1. Field of the Disclosure
The invention relates to a manual device having an end fitted with an electrically-conductive pad. On making contact with the surface of a capacitive screen, as used in particular on mobile telephones, multimedia tablets, or other computer devices, such a conductive pad can locally distort the electrostatic field of the screen, which distortion can be detected and located by a data processor device, such as for example a microprocessor, so as to interact with elements of a graphical user interface displayed on the screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, capacitive screens are intended for use by direct contact with the user's fingers. Nevertheless, in certain utilizations, manual devices analogous to a stylus can be preferable, for example for reasons of accuracy. Such a manual device, such as the device of the present disclosure, may present an electrically-conductive pad.
A drawback of such a dedicated manual device is that it might be additional to other writing instruments of a single user. The term “writing instrument” is used in this context to designate any instrument that can be used to trace writing manually on an appropriate surface. Thus, writing instruments include by way of example:
pencils, pens, ballpoints, or felt tips, and even appropriate styluses. All such writing instruments are typically elongate in shape between a front end presenting a writing tip and a rear end that is opposite therefrom in a longitudinal direction. This elongate shape thus enables a front portion of the writing instrument to be gripped close to the writing tip, between the tips of the thumb and at least one of the index and middle fingers, while a rear portion is supported in the grip corner between the thumb and the index finger in order to stabilize the writing instrument in the hand. Unfortunately, the space occupied by all of these tools together is a significant drawback for the user.